The Kite Runner Marxist Lense Paper

1577 words - 7 pages

In the book The Kite Runner, original social status is proven to create barriers in life regarding the aspects of friendship, mindset, and adaptation to change as we observe Baba’s and Amir’s life journeys in order to discover how it affects these aspects. Amir’s friendship with his hazara servant’s son Hassan takes a sudden toll as he ultimately comes to believe that traditional and historical beliefs outweighed true friendship as he was a young child. The mindset of Baba does not adjust when he and Amir are forced to move to America, as he still believes he possesses the same amount of power as he did in Afghanistan. While living in America, Baba never fully adapts to the American ...view middle of the document...

One day Asseff rapes Hassan as an act of power, and Amir witnesses the actions but acts in a cowardly matter and simply avoids the matter by ignoring it. Amir then proceeds to cut off the relationships between himself and Hassan, “I actually aspired to cowardice, but the real reason I was running, was that Asseff was right. Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart it: He was just a Hazara. Wasn’t he?” Amir did it because the traditional and historical beliefs were more important than friendship. This action displays how being born in a different social class can outweigh all feelings of love and friendship with one of a different social group.
As the war in Afghanistan begins, Baba and Amir flee to America where they went from being at the top of the social pyramid, to starting again at the very bottom. Baba’s mindset however, remains the same throughout his whole life. Back in Afghanistan, Baba was very proud of his possessions and the ability to afford so many luxuries, as he often would show off his fancy mustang which he bought prior to seeing it in a movie, “Then, Baba and I drove off in his black Ford Mustang – a car that drew envious looks everywhere because it was the same car Steve McQueen had driven in Bullitt, a film that played in one theater for six months..”. When Baba and Amir get to America, Baba lands a job in a gas station and makes minimum wage, yet he refuses to accept any food stamps due to his mentality that he still belongs in an upper social class and will not accept any acts of charity placed towards him. Throughout his whole life Baba’s mindset does not endure any change as he continues to possess the same mentality and way of thinking as he did when he was a wealthy businessman in Afghanistan. Alongside the materialistic aspect of his mindset, Baba also proves to continue treating certain people the certain way he had practiced in Afghanistan. General Taheri, one of Baba’s friends who is a decorated general back in Kabul, who owns a modest house and lives a comfortable life in America. Although the general does not have the status as he did back in the Middle East, Baba’s mentality does not allow him to change the way he acts around him. As well Baba expected everyone around him to give him a certain amount of respect, as he still believes he is in the same upper social class as he was back home. As you can see, growing up and practicing a specific mindset for an extended period of time, limits the possibility of being able to change your mindset, as we see how Baba’s way of thinking remains the same.
Baba was never able to adapt to the American society well, as he continued to live life with the attitude and appearance as he did back in Afghanistan. Although Baba worked at a gas station, which even nowadays is not a very high paid prestigious job, he continued to...

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